It's a joy to have you with us
this weekend. Thank you, Carol. I've appreciated
Carol singing. I believe Bob used to sing once
in a while. I always enjoy their music. One of the great things about
this church and this pastor, Brother Fortner, is how you emphasize
and encourage the reading of God's Word. Already tonight we
read two chapters in God's Word, this morning, and it's just so
essential. I do know that two things Two
essential, necessary things if sinners are to be converted,
and that is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit and
the reading and preaching of the Word of God. Our Lord said
that. He said, except a man be born
of the water, the Word, and the Spirit, he can't enter the Kingdom
of God. I had that impressed upon me
early. in my ministry, and it's so essential. In the 1950s, when I learned
the gospel of God's grace in 1950, when I heard Brother Barnard
preach the message of grace, and the Lord revealed it to my
heart, I encountered a number of preachers
love the gospel of God's grace like I did. And I met a young
man, David Estrada, from Spain. I met David, graduated from Westminster
Seminary, and I met him in Grand Rapids, Michigan at a meeting.
His father was the instrument who promoted the translation
of pink sovereignty of God in Spanish over in Barcelona, Spain. But anyway, we became very good
friends and he invited Brother Farrell Griswold and I to come
to Spain and to preach. He was a missionary to Spain
and we helped support him for a number of years. And he invited
Brother Brother Farrell Griswold and I had come to Barcelona and
Carcahente in Tarragona, Spain to preach the Gospel. He translated
for us. I don't speak in Spanish, but
he translated for us. Anyway, we had a service one
night in Carcahente, Spain, and I was sitting there like I was
tonight and enjoying the organist. And he was good. I'm telling
you, he was outstanding. I mean outstanding. And I turned
to Brother Estrada and I said, where did you find him? That
fella can play an organ like I've never heard anybody play
an organ. He said, you know what? He said, that young man was the
number one organist in the Catholic Cathedral here in Cargahenty. And he was outstanding, outstanding
organist. And he said he was practicing
one day in the Catholic Cathedral. He was practicing for his services
on Sunday. And the priest walked in. And the priest had a stack of
books in his arm. And he walked by the organ and
the organist said, the father said, What do you have there?
He said, I've been to some of these Protestant homes and picked
up their Bibles, take their Bibles away from them. And he said,
well, I've never seen one of their Bibles. Would you let me
see one? Brother Strada said that priest took that Bible and
threw it to that organization. And when he did, he threw it
in the grace of God, the Word of God. the power of the Spirit
and salvation. And that man sat down and started
reading that Bible, and he went to Brother Strada and said, I
want to hear you preach what I've been reading in this Bible.
And the Lord saved him. And I was just so astounded and
so blessed. But I do know this is true. Without
hearing of faith and the work of the Holy Spirit, there's not
going to be any conversion. You've got to preach the gospel.
I know that. And if God blesses us whenever
we meet together and wherever we meet together, if He blesses
us, it will be because He blesses His Word by the power of His
Spirit. And He applies it to our hearts. I want you to turn in your Bibles
tonight to the book of 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. I want to begin reading with
verse 17. I just keep the Word right there,
and I want to make some comments from this passage of Scripture.
It says here in 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17, Therefore, if any
man be in Christ, What is it to be in Christ? How is a man in Christ? Can you tell us, preach, can
you tell us how a person, a human being, a person can be in Christ? I'll tell you how. Number one,
we're in Christ by the will of God. Of his own will begat he
us by the word of truth. Of God are you in Christ Jesus,
who has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. That's how a man is in Christ. He's in Christ by the will of
God. Darwin just read it. Look back
there at John 1. Listen to this. John chapter
1. It says in John 1 verse 12. Now she said in verse 11, he
came to his own, his own didn't receive him. That was the Jewish
nation. But as many as received him,
to them gave he the power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood,
that is not by natural genealogy, nor the will of man, Nor the
will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but born of God. That's
how we're in Christ. Born of God. By the will of God. Alright, secondly, back to my
text. If any man be in Christ, how
are we in Christ? We're in Christ by the will of
God, and we're in Christ by faith. The Scripture says in Galatians,
let me quote it for you. But for you are the children
of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as have been baptized
into Christ have put on Christ. That's how we're in Christ. We've
been baptized into Christ by the Spirit of God and put on
Christ by faith. Now, I do want you to turn to
Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians
the first chapter. Oh, this absolute essential. of hearing the Word of God. Listen
to this. In Ephesians 1, and we love that
first chapter of Ephesians, how the work of the Father, He chose
us and predestinated us and the work of the Son, He redeemed
us and enriched us and enlightened us and in the Holy Spirit. Look
at verse 13 and 14. In whom you trusted, In Ephesians
1 verse 13, in whom you trusted after you heard the word of truth. You can't be saved without hearing
the gospel. God has chosen by the foolishness
of preaching the gospel to save them. Read on. In whom you trusted
after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom after that you believed. You were sealed with the Holy
Spirit of promise, and that Holy Spirit is the earnest, He's the
pledge, He's the token of our inheritance until the redemption
of the purchased possession under the praise of the glory of His
grace. We're in Christ by the will of
God. We're in Christ by faith, and
listen, We're in Christ by aid. Brother E.W. Johnson used to
use this phrase all the time. He said we're in Christ by a
vital, personal union with Christ. God has put us in Christ by the
power, the divine power of God. I want to show you this. Turn
to 2 Peter chapter 1. We're in Christ by the will of
God. We're in Christ by faith, hearing
the Word. And we're in Christ by a vital,
living, spiritual union with our Lord Jesus Christ by the
power of God. Turn to 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter
1 verse 2. Now listen to this. 2 Peter 1 verse 2. peace be multiplied unto you
through the knowledge of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I know whom I believe. All right. According as His divine
power, God's divine power has given us, given unto us all things
that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him
that hath called us to glory and virtue, whereby are given
unto us exceeding great precious promises, that by these you might
be partaker of the divine nature." Christ in you. Christ in you. Baptized into Christ. Christ
in you. The hope of glory. Christ in
you. partakers of a divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
lust. If any man be in Christ, in Christ
by the will of God, by the act of God, by the power of God,
by the Spirit of God, in Christ by faith, in whom you trusted
after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation,
we're in Christ. Alright, let's turn back to the
text. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians 5 verse 17. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. Actually, you know what that
word is? It's a new creation. If a man is in Christ by the
will of God, by faith, by the power of God, he is a new creation. God has given us life in Christ
and we are by His power a new creation. The man who is in Christ
is not the old man reformed. The man who is in Christ or the
woman who is in Christ is not the old man who has learned a
new doctrine. The man who is in Christ is a
new creature. who never existed before. Did you hear what I said? That's
so. He's a new creation. Only God can create. Man can't
do it. And we're not the old man reformed. We're not the old man who learned
a new doctrine. We're a new creation. Now I'll
share two scriptures. Ephesians 2. Turn to Ephesians
chapter 2. Any man be in Christ, he is a
new creation. Ephesians 2 verse 8. Listen. Ephesians 2 verse 8. For by grace are you saved through
faith, that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. It's not
of works, as any man should boast. For we are His workmanship created. Created in Christ Jesus. unto
good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them." We're created. Who's the Creator? God is. What
are we? The creation. Turn with me to
Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4, verse 21 to 24.
Listen to this. Ephesians 4, verse 21. Now listen.
Ephesians 4, verse 21. If so be that you have heard
him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus Christ,
that you put off concerning the former conversation your old
man, put it off, crucify him, put it down, which is corrupt
according to deceitful lust, and be renewed in the spirit
of your mind, and that you put on the new man. There's a new
man that's never lived before, which after God is created. This new man is created. God
created him. How did He create him? In righteousness
and holiness. And he has no sin. He can do
no sin. He's a new creature. Preacher? Do you understand what you're
saying? That we are an old man born a woman, and we live our lives on this
earth in the flesh, and then we die and go back to the dust.
Yet in Christ, God has made and created in us a new man, a new
creature that will never die. When that old man dies and they
put him in the ground, he goes back to the dust, that new man
that's been created in us by the power of God, by the Spirit
of God, made a partaker of the divine nature, that new man,
that's the one who goes to glory. Do I understand that? No, but
I believe it. Do you understand? I don't understand
the mystery of godliness. I don't know how God can be made
flesh. I don't know how the Lord Jesus
Christ can come into this world and take upon himself our nature
and be made in the likeness of sinful flesh and go to the cross
and die and suffer and die! He died! He died because he had
sin on him. God laid on him our sins, and
he suffered and died under the condemnation of our sins. And
he cried, My father, why have you forsaken me? Your sins have
separated you and your God. I can't explain that. I just
believe it. I believe that God quickens the
dead and calls those things which be not as though they are. And I'm one of them. That's what
Abraham believed. The things that God Almighty,
who quickeneth the dead, He calls those things that be not as though
they already are. And we are already seated with
Christ in the heaven. You believe that? Of course you
do. You believe you're already seated
with Christ in the heaven? I used to hear a preacher on
television, he'd always say, if you're saved and I believe
you're bound for heaven. It assures you're already there.
Raise your hand. We are already there. The forerunner
has gone within the veil and occupied for us. We're already
there. We're in Christ through faith,
by the will of God, new creatures in Christ Jesus, and partakers
of a divine nature. Oh, let's look at our text again. Old things. He didn't say all
old things have passed away. He said old things have passed
away. But all things become new in Christ. We've got a lot of
old things left hanging on to us that we've got to dispose
of and get the victory over because we're still in the flesh. We're new creatures. And old
things have passed away. A good friend of mine wrote an article on this scripture
right here. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creation. Old things are passed away. And
my friend wrote the article and said that can't mean regeneration
because all old things aren't passed away. He didn't say all
old things are passed away. He didn't say. He says all things
in Christ are new. But these old things are still
with us. You know, when our Lord brought
Lazarus out of the tomb, he came walking out, grave clothes all
over him. And our Lord looked at him and
said, loose him and let him go. And they got busy getting all
that stuff off of him. And I'll tell you the truth,
we've got to get busy and get a lot of this old stuff off of
us. Because we come out of the grave
raised new, living in Christ. But we've got some grave clothes
that have to be put aside. That's what they're saying. Old
things have passed away. What are some of the old things
that passed away? Well, I'll tell you. Our old
family in Adam. In Adam all died. I died in Adam. But I'm raised in Christ. But I'm still... A son of man,
I'm still in the flesh. Number two, the curse of the
law is gone. That's right. Oh, that I may
win Christ and be found in Him. Why are you praying that way?
Because I want to win Christ and be found in Him. Not having
my own righteousness, which is of the law. Our Lord gave Paul, the apostle,
a thorn in the flesh. Why did he give him a thorn in
the flesh? Paul was a godly man, a new creature in Christ, a man
who loved Christ. He said, I'm going to keep you
humble so you won't be lifted up with pride. You've got to
have this thorn in the flesh for your own good. Isn't that
what he said? Got to have it. And the curse
of the law is gone. But you ever have any trouble
with it? Of course you do. The old righteousness is gone.
The old righteousness is gone. But old John Knox, that great
old Presbyterian preacher, said, I had so much difficulty with
self-righteousness. Takes a long time for that to
die. Confessing that. One time they accused Spurgeon
of being too proud. He said, listen, if they took
as many photographs of you and made as many statues of you and
proclaimed your name loud and clear, you'd be surprised I'm
not more proud. We have trouble with that. The
old things have passed away. The old walk. The old ways. The old talk. You talk like you
used to be. I was in the Navy. Were you in
the Navy? I was in the Navy. You don't
hear Sunday school words in the Navy, you know. And they all
talk the same way. The old talks got to go. The
old walk, the old waves, the old talk. You hang around with the same
crowd you used to hang around with? Why don't you? Because
you don't get the flu if you stay away from people who have
got it. You change. The old walk, the
old pride. Boy, I tell you, that dies hard,
doesn't it? The old arrogance. That's what
he's talking about. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature by the will of God, by faith, by the Spirit
of God. He's a new creation of God. And
old things, they just keep fading away, passing away. Passing away. And I guess as
long as we live, I'll be 81 my next birthday and the old things
still pass away. Pass away. Old John Newton said
this, all believers can say with Newton, I'm not what I ought
to be. I'm not all that I want to be. what I expect to be someday.
But by the grace of God, I'm not what I used to be. There's
a growth in grace. There's a growth in grace. There's
a new creature in Christ Jesus. We're growing in grace and growing
in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Well,
let's look at it again. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creation. And these old things are passing
away. They are. And all things have
become new. What are the new things that
we have in Christ? Well, I want you to turn to Ezekiel
36. Ezekiel chapter 36. Let me read
about these new things in Christ. Ezekiel chapter 36. This is God's
covenant of grace and mercy in Christ Jesus. And I'm saying
this, if a person by the will of God, by saving faith in Christ,
by divine power of God, is a new creature in Christ, here's the
new things. In Ezekiel 36 verse 24, I will
take you from among the heathen. I will gather you out of the
countries and bring you into your own land. And I'll sprinkle
clean water on you, and you'll be clean from all your filthiness,
from your idols will I cleanse you. And a new heart, a new heart
will I give you, a new spirit I'll put within you. I'll take
away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I'll give you a heart
of flesh. And I'll put my spirit in you,
and I'll cause you to walk in my statutes, and you'll keep
my judgments, and you'll do them. And you shall dwell in the land
that I gave to your fathers, and you'll be my people, and
I'll be your God." The believer has a new standing.
He's a child of God. He has a new heart. He loves
God, and he loves the people of God. He has a new spirit,
new attitude, new nature. He has a new rule of life, a
guide. What is our guide? The Word of
God. That's where I get, all of you can say this same thing,
you get your strength and comfort and confidence from reading the
Word of God. Oh, it's so essential that we
read the Word of God. This is our God book. This is
our rule book. This is the Word of God. Believe
it. Believe it. If you read the Word to a believer,
he'll rejoice. If you preach the Word to him,
he'll believe it. And if you teach the Word to
him, he'll walk in it. He'll walk in it. This thing
of grace. This thing of grace. People want
to define grace. I always hear somebody want to
define grace. Well, that's fine. And I think
it's good. Unmerited favor. Unearned favor. Unsought favor. But Mr. Spurgeon said one time, if you
try to define truth in natural words, a lot of times you'll
kill it. A lot of times trying to define
the work of God and the grace of God and the truth of God,
to try to define it like unmerited favor. Well, that can say a whole
lot. Unearned, unmerited. But here's grace. Grace is not
just a statement. Grace is forgiving the unfaithful
without reservation. That's grace. That's grace. Grace is forgiving the unfaithful
without reservation. Grace is receiving the prodigal
without restitution. That's grace. It's receiving. It's not just talking about it. It's not just commenting on it.
It's not just what I heard somebody preach. It's receiving. Grace
is counseling the dead. Just counseling. It's unpaid,
so counsel it. That's grace. That's active grace. Grace is forgetting the offense
and loving the offender. Grace is counseling the unpaid
debt. Grace is forgetting the offense
and loving the offender. And grace is unlimited and unending. We experience it often in the
lives of our own children. I'd give anything in the world
to them, for them, because I love them. That's grace. Why don't
I do it otherwise? How often should I forgive my
brother? I believe Peter asked the Lord
that. How often should I forgive my brother? Seven times? The
Master said, I say not unto you seven times, but seventy times
seven. And by that time, you got used
to it. It's grace. It's grace. That's the way God's people live
and act. They're in Christ. Dead to this
world. Raised with Christ. Seated with
Him in glory and looking forward to being just like Him. It's
grace. He said this, catch my message,
catch my topic again now, my text. If any man be in Christ,
he's a new creation. And these old things, they go
away slowly sometimes. Old things pass away, but behold,
all things are brand new in Christ. Brand new. And all things, listen,
are of God. All these new things are of God.
This new creature has new things. He has new nature, new heart,
new spirit, new direction, new attitude. All these things are
new. And all things are of God. who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and has given
us this message of reconciliation. I want to tell you a story. I
may have told this to you before. I can't remember. It happened a long time ago. I was down in Lake Charles, Louisiana
preaching in a meeting. And this Jewish couple I met
during this meeting, Mr. and Mrs. Sid Horn. Linda was
her name. They sat on the front row. They'd
been saved by the grace of God under the ministry of their pastor,
Brother McKinney. And I just fell in love with
them. They're just precious. Never missed a service. He was
a lawyer. Never missed a service. Loved the gospel. And so he invited
me to lunch one day. He said, you and the pastor come
and eat lunch with me. And I said, I'd be glad to. So
we went to lunch. And we were sitting around the
table talking, the pastor and I and Brother Horn. And I said,
Sid, you and your wife, you're Jewish. You're Jews, aren't you? Yes, sir. Where'd you get that
name Horn? Not a Jewish name. He laughed. He said, well, my parents, my
grandparents was Bernstein, my great-grandfather. This was back,
he said, in 1916, 17, 18, when the First World War was
going on. And my parents lived in Germany.
My grandparents, my grandfather lived in Germany. His name was
Bernstein. He was 18 years old. And he said
they were drafting German boys into the army. The war was about
over. America had come in and the war
was about over. And he was 17 or 18 and they
were going to draft him. And he said, I'm not going. I'm
not going to fight any more in this war. I'm not going. I refused
to go, told his parents, he said, I will not go and die because
I lost cause. And so he ran away from home,
left Germany and headed for Switzerland. And he said, I had a hard time
finding my way different places and finding, before I crossed
the border, he said, I was so tired, so weary, Mr. Bernstein,
so weary, he said, I saw a light in a house. And he said, it occurred
to me, I'm not going to make it. I'm just not going to make
it. I'm going to have to stop and
see these people and tell them who I am and what I am and what
I've done and where I've headed. And they'll have to turn me over
to the authorities or let me go. I've got to have rest. So he knocked on the door. And
the lady came to the door, and her name was Horn, Miss Horn. And Bernstein stood there and
told him, this young man, he said, I'm just not going to die
for this war, and I'm leaving. They said, we understand. Come
on in. They took him in, fed him, gave
him clothes, and then they sat down and talked to him. And they
said, now, Mr. Bernstein, our son died not too
long ago. He's about your age. He died
not long ago, and we buried him out here on our farm. And we're going to get his papers
and give them to you, and we're going to put your name Bernstein
on the grave, on the cross. You're going to be Mr. Bernstein
who's dead and buried, and you're going to be alive, Mr. Horne. He walked out of that
house a new person, a new name and title and everything. Came to America, became quite
wealthy. And Mr. Horn told me about that. He said, I was a Bernstein back
then, but my grandfather became Mr. Horn because somebody else
died in his place. They buried him and gave him
new papers. And that's what's happened to
us. Turn to Romans chapter 6. Let me show you something. In
Romans chapter 6. Listen to this, Romans 6 verse
3. And what's associated with old
Bernstein is buried, dead and buried. Know ye not that so many
of us who are baptized unto Jesus Christ were baptized unto his
death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism unto death,
like as of Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory
of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. For
you have been planted together in the likeness of his death,
we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing
our old man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. A new
creature, a new creation. And I stand before you, and I
look right into the faces of a lot of new creatures in Christ
Jesus. Created by the will of God, by
faith, by the divine power of God. Understand it, just believe
it. Alright, the Lord bless you,
thank you.